Memory
by BittersweetSummer
Summary: I will wait for you.


_Don't worry Draco. I'll wait for you. _

He tells himself to stop being such a selfish bastard. She deserves more than him. He was damaged goods, not fit for the likes of her.

...

_I've been waiting for a long time. I can wait a little more._

He glances down at her, with her empty doe eyes and persistent smile, knowing that she's lying, that she's trying (unsuccessfully) to hide the burning behind her eyelids.

Yet she continues, trying to add enthusiasm to her (trembling) voice and knowing that she's failing.

...

_Don't think about me, Draco. _

She's lying. He knows her more than she knows herself, known her since she first danced with him at one of his mother's fancy (pointless) parties.

She was seven and he was nine. She was dazzled by the bright lights and fancy dress robes, while he was indifferent. He had sneered at the rapture in her eyes as she took in her surroundings.

_Enjoy it while you can, _he had told her. _It just gets worse from here._

She had frowned at him and flounced away, while he shrugged and went to steal some punch.

...

_I'll be fine._

She wouldn't be fine. Her family was lost, her sister shunned from society and her parents rotting six feet under.

He was all she had left, and now he was going to leave too.

...

_Listen to me. _

He glared down at her, half of him sick of her pathetic attempts at healing and half of him wanting to reach out to her.

He made a decision.

...

_I care about you, Draco. Really, I do._

In the silence that followed he glared down at her stonily, while her (unseeing) eyes stared up at him expectantly. Her expression fell the slightest bit before she composed herself and straightened up stiffly.

He spoke, but not the words that she wanted to hear.

_I don't want to see you again, Astoria._

_...  
_

This time she has no words for him.

He looks at her for one last time, knowing that she couldn't see him.

(She couldn't see anything anymore.)

He would give anything for her to see again.

Too bad the world no longer cared about what he wanted anymore.

...

The silence was getting deafening.

He hoped that she believed him, believed the lies that had (much too easily) slipped from his mouth.

He hoped that she would stay away from him. There was no way she could live her life with him, a shell of the man he had once been.

Hell, he was never a man. He was a coward.

...

_You liar._

Her voice was bitter, cutting through him more effectively than any _Sectumsempra _ever could.

How many times has he heard that phrase?

Liar.

Traitor.

Coward.

Scum.

Hundreds of whispers, running through his head like a broken record.

But hearing it from her made him uncomfortable, even if it was true.

...

She stumbles as a harried-looking man pushes past her, hurrying toward the door to the room that would seal his fate.

He instinctively reaches out toward her; catching her before she suffered from an untimely fall.

He flushed in annoyance as she stiffened from the contact, righting herself quickly and composing herself in a way that reminded him of her sister.

She didn't step back though. Her once-angry eyes had disappeared, the green and gold in the irises softening as she held her hands out to him.

Astoria Greengrass was never any good at holding grudges.

...

_I know you too well, Draco. Don't lie to me._

She was so close to him. Her hands traced the planes of his face, and he closed his eyes.

She seemed confused with the wetness that she felt on his cheeks.

With his eyes still closed, he felt her leaning toward him, both of them knowing what would come next.

Their lips met, and her hands made their way down his face, his shoulders, his arms.

He trembled from the contact, however fleeting it was, and tried to convey with actions what his mouth wasn't ready to say.

_I love you._

_I need you._

_Wait for me._

She seemed to understand, and made a desperate attempt to prolong the embrace, knowing that she wouldn't have much time left.

He (after an internal struggle) was the one who broke the kiss. But he wished that he hadn't, for her look of despair cut him down to the core.

She took his hands, and bowed her head. He felt tears slowly (_drip drip drip) _down on his wrists.

...

The escorts were waiting at the door, staring stolidly ahead.

It was time.

Her grip on him seemed to get stronger, though his was resigned.

Her last words to him echoed in his head long after they were whispered (with more fierceness than he thought).

_Walk into that courtroom with your head held high, Draco Malfoy. I'll be there, no matter what._

The memory of her embrace was the only thought on his mind as he walked into the room that would determine his destiny.

* * *

_**This was a really ancient oneshot that I found hidden among my files today. **_

_**And yes, this is all I'm posting. I deliberately left the ending ambiguous. I want to see what YOU guys think will happen in the trial.**_

_**Well, we all know what happen**__**s eventually.**__** (Otherwise Scorpius wouldn't be born.)  
**_

_**Anyways, share your thoughts. I love hearing them.**_


End file.
